by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 31, 2020 | Yoga
Traditional Way of Yoga-overveiw
The meaning of yoga is to ‘unite’ or ‘to link’. Really, Yoga is the medium to join ourselves with the higher self. There are many selves who want to meet with one and only supreme self. Just like the river which flows to reach to the sea, we born and reborn for the purpose of getting oneness with the universal self. In this article we discuss on traditional way of yoga meditation.
It is not fixed when yoga was invented but the word yoga is used at the first time in Rig Veda. We find that yoga has very old history and has been teaching between Guru and Sishya (Disciple) tradition for many centuries. In the past, the way and purpose of teaching of yoga were different. Now, yoga is teaching many dimensions of our life. Yoga becomes very specialized that there are many types of yoga teaching according to the desire of the person.
Patanjali managed yoga in 8 limbs and described as the medium of salvation. Patanjali sutras and yoga concept is considered as a traditional way of yoga. He gave the formulae of yoga in different categories. There were very few Yogis who knew yoga in the traditional time. Yogis were not available commonly in the villages and towns. A disciple should search his Guru for many years. When he met with Guru, Guru didn’t teach him yoga directly. Guru took his exam of his patience for many months even for many years.
If the disciple dared his Guru even Guru scolded him, gave him the brutal punishment he could be the candidate of yoga learning. Guru taught one pose for the one time and told the disciple to practice yoga for many months when he did not become perfect in particular pose. If the disciple became perfect in one pose, Guru taught another. In this way, it was very difficult to learn yoga in the ancient time. This kind of practice can be found in the Himalayas at the present time. That is the traditional way to learn yoga.
The traditional way of yoga learning is very effective to attain salvation. In the ancient time, the only one purpose of yoga was to get enlightenment. The student or disciple should search yoga Guru for long period of time so yoga had the great value. It is a saying that if a disciple stays with the Guru to learn yoga, in 12 years he becomes enlightened but nowadays that can’t be true. We can see many yogis who regret the contribution of their time and practice in yoga because they can’t find the achievement that they want.
Yoga was introduced by Swami Vivekananda in the western culture. Slowly, yoga becomes the highly popular in the western culture. They started to research in yoga and found the health benefits of yoga. Nowadays most of the persons do yoga for their healthy life. Yoga is very useful for the mental and physical health.
Yoga is also the best way to peace and harmony in the world. Now, people are frustrated with this worldly busy life. They want to live another way of their life. They want to make yoga as a lifestyle because yoga is the only way to live our life without stress and tension.
Yoga becomes very easy to learn. It is not bad that yoga becomes common in the world but some traditional way of yoga and its features should remain unchanged. We have to be careful to maintain the classical pattern of yoga with the modern ways.
Yoga was not very common like in these days in the ancient time. Yogis were very wise and intellectual but very simple. They have established a different civilization in the history of human beings. The system of teaching and learning was vastly different than that is at this time. The respectfulness of the student to the Guru was very deep. Students helped Guru for the daily works of cooking, grazing cows etc.
Students could get the vital knowledge from the Guru by his respectfulness. How much the student was obedient to the Guru, he could get more secret knowledge from Guru. Guru never became biased to the students. Guru wanted the passion for learning from the students. If the student showed his deep interest in any subject, Guru taught him the knowledge with full of his effort.
The traditional way of yoga used to kept as secret knowledge and only given by specified gurus. So, most of the person misunderstood the meaning of yoga. Yoga was meant to be the way of leaving home for the sake of being Sage. There was not good impression about yoga in the society in Nepal and India. People didn’t understand the benefits of yoga and they thought that doing yoga is to be a sage who begs for his livelihood.
Now, the concept has been changed and many people want to do yoga for their healthy and happy life. There are many places in the world, where we can learn yoga but Nepal and India are the countries from where yoga began. The most important places for yoga are the mountainous areas where many yogis are meditating even now. The energy of this place can attract all of the persons from the world.
If we respect the yogis from the ancient time, we can get the energy from them. They established the tradition of yoga in the society but that becomes only the superstition, we can’t save the inner purpose of yoga in our society. Now, the superficial aspects of yoga are remained. The main aim has been disappeared. So, we have to be careful to save the vital part of our tradition which was originated by the wisest sages of the ancient time who are our ancestors.
This is the age of science so we have to find out the scientific value of our tradition and reform them as they were in the past. What was the main function of the tradition? We have to search the answer of this question. Our tradition of Hindu culture is scientific and that is the yogic lifestyle in our life. We have to make yoga as our lifestyle like in the ancient time by analyzing them. We have to remove all the negative sides of our traditional way of Yoga and yogic lifestyle and establish scientific traditional yogic lifestyle for this modern age.
We are very lucky that we can get the chance to learn yoga very easily so we have to utilize this opportunity to establish a peaceful, beautiful and harmonized world as in the ancient time. We can unite the whole world by yoga. If we can make yoga as our tradition, the world will become the heaven, which was the dream of great sages in the ancient period.
by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 31, 2020 | Blogs
Happiness is a feeling that arises when you hear know something good is being happened. When you get what you desire, you will be happy. Getting chance to stay with a favorable person makes one happy. But the company of unflavored person makes sad. Desired behavior and activities from the people around our surrounding make us happy. But if people show their unwanted behavior and activities, it snatches our happiness. If we see any good thing, it makes us happy. Achieving success makes one happy. We always want good, nice, beautiful, and so on. As and when we happened to get contact with unwanted issue or matters, we become unhappy. Our happiness is depending on these external matters and issues. These things have become the key to lock or unlock our happiness. However, these keys are not under our control. So, happiness, aroused from external situation and matter, is not under our control. So, this type of happiness, acquired by external matters and issues, is not real happiness. The happiness which is ephemeral cannot be a real happiness. The happiness which is eternal, which does not get affected by an external situation, which has nothing to give and take in outside environment; such happiness is considered to be the real happiness.
There is some biochemical process when we are happy. There is happiness hormone released during our happiness. The important happiness hormones are endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. When we come to the contact of happy news or circumstances, these hormones start activating. And secretion of these hormones makes the person happy. So, the real cause of happiness is secretion of these hormones. Some people suffering from depression, anxiety, stress etc. have no secretion of these hormones, no matter what a happy news or situation they face. Thus they can never be happy. From this, we can conclude that happiness is the product of biochemicals. It is the matter of inner world rather than that of the external world. Now the question arises- how are these hormones secrete? The simple answer is a balanced and healthy life. Again a question arises- how can a balanced and a healthy life be achieved? There are various methods for it. Let us talk about them.
Secret 1: Yoga and meditation: Regular practice of yoga and meditation helps to keep the body active and healthy, and mind peace and happy. It eliminates diseases and maintains the good functioning of the body. It helps to meet the goal of life.
Secret 2: Right Food: Of course, food should be nutritious and healthy with correct way and time of eating. But this is not sufficient. The food we eat must be from right earning. The food earned from unwholesome act makes the blood profane, degrades the level of mind. Earning by harming other is said to be a wrong way of earning. Only right food can keep one happy secreting happiness hormones and providing good health.
Secret 3: Right Aim: Working with the wrong intention takes the person to the misery. Speak or act with the wrong aim, it brings only misery. The aim which is against the goodness of others and oneself is the wrong aim. Any ambition which creates or promotes other and oneself wellness is a wrong aim.
Secret 4: Right Effort: No matter we have right aim, but we also should have the right way to achieve it. Achieving the aim through the wrong way of effort can never give happiness. Let’s say our aim is to bring peace in the country. This is right aim because peace is necessary for all. But, If we engage in unnecessary war in the name of peace, then we never achieve peace. War has always negative effects for both teams.
Secret 5: Creative task: We have to be engaged in a creative task in free time. It removes boredom and stress. It decreases Alzheimer’s diseases, heart diseases, depression etc. It keeps away from negative thoughts providing a way to perceive the world positively. Creative activities achieve the source of happiness. Engaging in a creative task helps to regenerate brain cells, awakens inactive portion of the nervous system.
Secret 6: Company with better people: Our habits, attitudes, and way of thinking turn into the style of the company with whom we stay. Company with wrong people makes us negative and company with better people makes us positive.
Secret 7: No expectation from others: We have a habit of expecting from others. Whenever our expectations do not get fulfilled we become sad. Depending on other, hoping something from other gives sadness as our home may not be fulfilled always. It doesn’t mean to be hopeless. It means to say that we should be self-dependant. Besides, we should not be affected by others behavior. Being affected by others’ behavior is to give the key to our happiness to them. People behave and act as per the level of their mind. You have nothing to give and take from the status of others’ mind. So be neutral in their behavior and activities.
by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 28, 2020 | Spirituality
Astrology (Jyotisha) is a very famous subject in Hindu philosophy. It is the part of the knowledge from Vedas. Astrology is based on the planets of the solar system. Astrology believes that the energy of the planets can affect positively and negatively in our life. In the birth chart of the person, there are 12 houses with different placement of the planets. The birth chart is made by the date, time and place of birth. By the birth, chart astrologer can predict the future of a person, tell your past, remind your inner capacity and show the right path in your life.
We can see many people wearing different Gems on their fingers. Why do they wear the gems? Gems can bring positive change in your life. Gems can save us from the negative effects of the planet. A gem is not worn only for its brightness. Gem has the divine energy to solve the problems. Gems are related to the energy of the different planets of our solar system. We have to wear gems according to the placement of the planet of our Birth chart. If the planet is positive in our birth chart but the planet is very weak to give a positive result, then we wear gems to accelerate the energy of the planet.
Each planet is in a different place in our birth chart and they move from one to another. All planets have their own time period to move from one house to another. Movement can bring the planet in different houses in certain time. The particular planet which is placed in the birth chart in the present moment can affect our life. All nine planets have their degrees and they give result by their power of the degree. Young planets can give the 100 percent of the result but infant and old planet can give the negligible result in our life.
We can decrease the negative effect and increase the positive effect of the planet by different remedies. Among them, gems remedy is very famous and easy to apply but we have to be very careful with it. We have to council with a very experienced astrologer before wearing the gem. Gem only increases the power so we have to wear the ring of the planet which is able to give us the positive result in our life and the planet is lower in its degree.
In the ancient time, the great sages knew the colour of every planet and identified the gems according to their colours. Gems can connect with the energy of the planets and increases the effect of the planets in our body. Every planet has their different types of gems. Gems can capture the energy of the planet and helps to enter the energy in our body.
Planes and their related gems
There are 9 planets in our solar system according to the astrology even there are 8 planets according to scientists after 2006. Nine planets have their virtues and qualities. The nine planets give us the result by their virtues and qualities.
- Sun:The sun is the sign of life energy which gives the vitality in our body. The gem of the sun is Ruby. Ruby balances the temperature of the body and maintains the mental balance. If the sun is positive in the birth chart, then astrologers recommend wearing Ruby. It increases the fame and respect of the person in the society. It is related to the father.
- Moon:Moon represents the psychological aspects of our life. It also represents the higher intuition power of the person. The related gem of the moon is the white pearl. White pearl controls the emotions of our mind. This helps us to gain the peace at the home. It can give us the benefit of transportation in our life.
- Mars:This is the planet which is the symbol of courage and endurance. The related gem for mars is Red Coral. Red Coral increases the warmness of the body and strengthens the digestive power.
- Mercury: Mercury is the planet which is the force of speech, behaviour and business. If this planet is positive, the person becomes good in trade and speaking capacity. The related gem of Mercury is Emerald. Emerald increases the intellectual capacity. It balances the mind.
- Jupiter:This planet is associated with generous quality of human. This is the sign of intellectuality and wisdom. It plays the role to expand the humanity in the world. The related gem of the Jupiter is Yellow Sapphire. Yellow Sapphire gives you spiritual progress. It teaches you to use the knowledge properly.
- Venus:Venus is the sign of creativity, fine arts, beauty, luxury, romance, marriage reproduction power, and love relation. The related gem of Venus is the Diamond. Diamond gives you the prosperity. It gives you the positive perspective of love and beauty.
- Saturn:Saturn is concerned as a negative planet but it is the sign of our Karmic debt and justice. It gives us the justice in our life according to our Karma. If we do positive Karma, we can get the positive result and if we do negative Karma, we get the negative result. Anyway, it is not negative because it can give us the natural justice in our life. The related gem of Saturn is Blue Sapphire. Blue Sapphire increases the logic and the feeling of justice. It gives you the technical knowledge too.
- Rahu: Really Rahu and Ketu are not the planets but they are the shadows of the planets. Both are shadows to cause eclipse in the solar system. Rahu is the sign of fame, material goods and attachment. The related gem of Rahu is Gomed. Gomed balances the hormones of the body.
- Ketu:Ketu is the sign of enlightenment, liberation and spiritual growth. It is the cause of nonattachment with the materialistic things. The related gem of Ketu is Cat’s Eye. Cat’s Eye protects us from the negative energy in our body. If Ketu is positive, it can protect us from the negative effects of other planets.
We can increase the power of the planet by using different Gems. If the planet is very good in the placement but unable to give its fruit properly, then we use different types of Gems according to the planet. We have to be careful when we use the gem on our finger. We have to consult with a perfect astrologer before that
by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 22, 2020 | Blogs
Patanjali has given the most beautiful technique of yoga in his famous book Yoga Sutra. He arranged yoga in a scientific manner making easy to understand and practice. He explained human psychology and managed yoga accordance of the psychological state of people. Brittis are the main cause of the fluctuation of our mind so we have to remove all our Brittis to attain salvation. He separated Chitta Brittis in different five types. Explaining yoga Patanjali stated that “Yogaschittabriti Nirodha.” Yoga is removing of fluctuation of the mind. The five Brittis are as follows:
- Pramana (Correct knowledge)
- Viparyaya (Incorrect knowledge)
- Vikalpa (Imagination or fantasy)
- Nidra (Sleep)
- Smrti (Memory)
The states of our mind can lead us to the destination of different points of their nature. The real knowledge can overcome the fluctuation of our mind. Yoga can maintain the peace of our mind. Five Brittis of our mind can teach how our mind works. If we understand the trick of our mind, we can understand what is real and what is not. To get rid of all the Brittis, we have to practice yoga in our life. Explanation of five Brittis of Chitta:
1.Pramana (Correct knowledge):The word Pramana means the evidence in Sanskrit language, so the real meaning of Pramana is the knowledge which is based on the evidence. Pramana is the knowledge of the reason and logic. Pramana is the knowledge which is based on the direct experience. There are two kinds of knowledge in the world, first one is direct and second is inference which is based on the imagination.
According to Patanjali, the knowledge doesn’t have to be perceived by the five senses but we have to see the practical application in our life of the knowledge. The valid knowledge is the best. We don’t have to believe the knowledge which is said by others. We have to experience the knowledge by ourselves. We have to perceive the real knowledge. We have to distinguish the real and unreal knowledge.
In total, we can say that the real knowledge is the knowledge of our experience. Any of the knowledge is neither real nor unreal but the knowledge becomes real if the knowledge can help us in our practical life.
2. Viparyaya (Incorrect knowledge): sometimes we think that something is correct but if we go into the deep study, we realize that the knowledge is not correct. The incorrect knowledge, which seems to be correct, is called Viparyaya. We imagine something by our limited knowledge to be the real appearance when our illusion disappears, we can understand the reality of the things.
The knowledge which is gained by our five senses is unreal but seems to be very real. Most of the person of the world think real which can be sensed by our five senses but in reality, the knowledge by five senses is not real. When we practice yoga and get enlightened, we know the supreme reality. The supreme reality cannot be affected by the situation.
We may think to swim in the river is very easy but in reality, we can’t swim in the real. Sometimes, we can think the task is very easy from the surface but the reality becomes too hard because we can’t perform the activities in real. So, we have to recognize the reality of the world in the path of spiritual journey. We have to see everything as they are.
3. Vikalpa (Imagination or fantasy):Vikalpa is imagination which we create in our mind by ourselves. This is the truth that we think something is real by our fantasy. Our life becomes whatever we think about our life. If we think life is hard, life will be really hard in the reality. Our subconscious mind doesn’t analyze either something is real or not but it follows what our conscious mind guides it. If we think ourselves as a successful person in our life, we become successful because there into limitation to be successful in our life. If we think we are happy in our life, we become happy in our life. There is not an absolute reality for our subconscious life but in spirituality, our journey begins to the search for the ultimate reality.
In this world nothing is real but all the realities are as our mind creates they are. Our search should go to the search for real knowledge of the universe.
4. Nidra (Sleep):Nidra is the deep sleep which is the state of our mind in which all the thoughts and ideas absent. If we can sleep soundly, we can be refreshed after we wake up from our sleep. In our sleep, we forget our knowledge, everything about ourselves. If unnecessary thoughts disturb us, we can’t sleep well. If we can’t sleep well, we can’t awake in the fresh mood. We cannot be healthy and happy. We have to rest properly and wake up with new inspiration in our life. We don’t indulge in the daydreaming. We have to be aware all the time to walk in the path of enlightenment.
The disturbed mind can’t awake during the day and can’t sleep soundly at the night. We have to overcome all the fluctuations of our mind to be in the path of the higher goal of our life, i.e. yoga. Stress disturbs us in the path of purification.
5. Smrti (Memory):Memory is the way which leads us to the past. By memory, we can be lost in the past days of our life. We can be happy by remembering the happy moments of the past or we can be unhappy by remembering our sad past events. By the vehicle of the memory, we start to live in our past rather than at the present. We think that we should do that and shouldn’t do that in the past. We become trapped in the past and can’t go ahead in our life. Past can’t be corrected so we have to forgive our past and start our journey to the higher achievement. Past can make us crippled and stop us from our purpose of our life.
In reality, we have to be the audience of all types of Brittis of our mind. We don’t have to be attached with any of those Brittis because they can’t lead us to the higher level of spiritual growth. We have to make still our mind by practicing yoga on a regular basis in our life.
The purpose of yoga is to make people aware of their way of life wherever and whoever they are. To make them able to differentiate between what is real and what is fake knowledge. Patanjali focuses on the factor that we don’t have to hang up on unnecessary activities thinking that they are real.
by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 19, 2020 | Spirituality
Buddhism is a concept of the religion founded by Gautam Buddha. It is not only a religious belief but also a spiritual practice and spiritual tradition. 7 percent of the people of the world are Buddhist. Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, 563 BC. He got enlightened and started to spread the message of peace to the most of the Asian countries so he is called as the ambassador of peace of Asia.
The main philosophy of Buddhism can be categorized into three parts. They are four noble truths, eightfold paths, and Pancasila. The Buddhist philosophy is written in three Tripitakas. Three Tripitakas are:
- Binaya Pitak: This is the scripture of Buddhism which includes the rules for the monks and nuns.
- Shukti Pitak: This part of Tripitaka has the sermons of the Buddha.
- Abhidhamma Pitak: This is the book of the collection of the philosophies of Buddhism.
Here are the four noble truths of Buddha:
- There is suffering in life
- There is the reason for suffering
- There is the way to be free from the suffering
- The way of being free from suffering is eightfold paths
- There is suffering in life: Suffering is the part of our life which is inseparable for everyone who is born in this world. We are born here with the suffering. We have to be in suffering in our life until and unless we don’t get enlightened. Buddha focused on the fact that life can’t be imagined without suffering. Suffering is as true as our life is. It is said that who is enlightened, he or she should not be born in this world. If we have some Karmic debt, we have to born here in this world.
- There is the reason behind suffering: Buddha’s teaching always clarifies the reason for everything and the solution of every reason. The main cause of the suffering is the desire. How much we get in our life, we want more and more. The chain of gaining will not over. There are unlimited desires in human mind. The human can’t be satisfied with the worldly affairs, world’s achievement. There are limited resources to fulfill our desires but we have unlimited desires so the available resources can’t fulfill our desires. The nature of desire is like a pot where we can’t put anything because it doesn’t have the lower part so from where everything can fall.
- There is the way to be free from the suffering: There is the way to be free from the suffering. Buddha’s teaching is very scientific because he raised the hypothesis that there is suffering in this world and at the end, he gave the exact solution of the hypothesis. Now, we have the hope that we can be free from all the sufferings of the world. It is in our hand to be free from all the sufferings. If we want, we can be free from all the pains and discomforts.
- The way of the freedom of the suffering is eightfold path: If we practice the eightfold path, we can be free and get the liberation from the suffering of the world. They are the real solutions to our life’s suffering. They are the Real Techniques to be totally free from the desires of our life.
Eightfold Path:
Right View: View means the attitude. We have to see anything that that thing is real. In a simple way, we see what we want to see. We don’t have to judge anything by our perspective. We think that death is the end of our life, which is the main cause of the fear in our life. Fear creates suffering. We have to know everything in their real existence.
Right Resolution: This is the second step of the eightfold path. In this step, we take the right resolution of our mental development. We take firm determination to love all the being of the world. We focus on being polite to others and to be sincere when we behave with others.
Right Speech: We have to speak the truth all the time. Speaking truth can lead us to the higher level in the path of liberation. If there is something harmful matter to others, we don’t have to speak. We don’t have to speak the false because false is not the way of liberation. False is not the part of the higher source.
Right Action: We don’t have to perform the action that is not right. We have to analyze whether it is right or not before we do anything. We don’t have to harm to others by our action. We don’t have to suffer others by our action.
Right Livelihood: We have to live with the minimal things that we need to live. We don’t have to collect more than we need. We don’t have to do the profession, which is the harm to others.
Right effort: We have to try to change our habits or we have to try to be better and better. We have to be able to change our overall factors of life from negative to positive. We have to be bold to be better.
Right Mindfulness: We have to try to be aware every moment. We don’t have to lose the awareness because the awareness can lead us to the higher source. We have to be guided by the real knowledge rather than the false knowledge. We have to develop our mind to accept the higher source of knowledge.
Right concentration or Meditation: We have to practice the meditation of four types. To unite our self to the higher source, we have to practice the meditation. In this state, we are free from the ego. We are able to understand the natural state of our life. The flow of life can be seen in this state.
Pancasila:
- Not killing
- Not stealing
- To be away from sensual (including sexual) misconduct
- Not lying
- Not to be in the state of intoxication
Five moral virtues are the very important part of the eightfold path. These five virtues are the common people. There are eight or ten virtues for the monks and nuns.
Different branches of Buddhism are as follows:
Mahayana: It believes that the scripture should be changed by the time. It focuses that we all have the possibility to be enlightened in our life.
Theravada: Theravada Buddhism is the branch of traditional Buddhism. It is the oldest form of Buddhism. It believes that the original Buddhism is the pure Buddhism. It focuses on the learning the teachings of Buddha and doing the meditation. It is a very powerful concept that we have to search the wisdom.
Vajrayana: Vajrayana is thebranch of Buddhism which believes in Tantra. Tibetan Buddhism is in this category. We have to start our spiritual practice with a much matured Guru.
